thropp



J. E. AND P. D. THROPP.

APPARATUS FOR IMPREGNATING FABRIC.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. 1911.

11,3l2;878 Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I .l. E. AND P. D. THROPP.

APPARATUS FOR IMPREGNATING FABRIC, APPLICATION mu) MAY 23. um.

Patented Aug. 12,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- JOHN E. THBOPP AND PETER D. THROPP, OE TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE DE LASKI AND THROPP CIRCULAR WOVEN TIRE COMPANY, OF TRENTON,

NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR IMPEEGNATING FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationfiled May 23, 1917. Serial No. 170,495.

-To all 'whom it may concern:

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Impregnating Fabric, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for impregnating fabric, and more particularly for impregnating canvas or duck'with a rubber compound solution, for use in the manufacture of pneumatic tires.

An object is to provide an apparatus of this character which is simple in construction, easy to manipulate, and in which the fabric may be submitted to the action of a vacuum and then to a bath of the impregnating liquid without any exposure whatever to the air and without the interposition of valves or similar mechanism.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus in which the construction is such that the impregnating liquid bath forms a seal for the channel of communication through which the fabric is led from the chamber in which it is submitted to a vacuum to the tank which holds the impregnatin liquid. 7

A further object consists in providing such an apparatus in which the chamber for the vacuum treatment is located above the tank for holding the impregnating liquid, so that the two may be connected by a channel of communication for passing the fabric from one to the other, and the said channel be sealed by the impregnating liquid which is drawn up therein by the influence of the vaccum.

A still further object consists in provid-' Fig. 3 represents a section taken in the plane of the line IIIIII of 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 represents a front view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2, partly broken away.

Fig. 5 represents a vertical central section, with the means for drying and winding up the impregnated fabric diagrammatically represented, and

Fig. 6 represents an enlarged detail view showing the means for securing the end of the fabric to the threading ribbons for leading the former through the apparatus.

he apparatus comprises a foundation framework 1, in front of which is mounted a suitable trough-like tank 2 for holding the liquid to be used in impregnating the fabric. In the particular use for which this apparatus is primarily designed, this liquid consists of a vulcanizable rubber compound and is well understood by operatives in the pneumatic tire manufacturing industry.

A superstructure 3 is mounted uponthe foundation framework 1. This superstructure ma be rectangular in form and composed o angle-iron members which are suitably braced by corner pieces 4 and crossbars or straps 5. These elements may be riveted or bolted together in a well understood manner.

The superstructure 3 has a series of angleiron beams 6 which extend from side to side at the top thereof and serve as a bed or support forthe vacuum chamber 7.

The vacuum chamber is oblong in top plan view, as will be noted by reference to Fig. 1, and has journals 8 fixed on the inside of its upright walls at either end thereof, for re ceiving the trunnions 9 which protrude from the extremities of a roll 10 upon which the fabric 11 is wound, as plainly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. By this means the fabric to be treated may be conveniently mounted in the vacuum chamber 7, and it will be understood that, in the operation of the apparatus, there may be any number of rolls 10 upon which the fabric 11 is wound, so that successive lots of fabric may be submitted to the treatment. I v i The vacuum chamber 7 also has a pair of bearings 12 ecured to its endrvvalls at the inner sides thereof, which bearings are fitted I Patented Aug. 12, 1919. I

the end of the duct 16, and thence to support a roll 13 upon which is coiled one end of a pair of threading ribbons or bands 14. These ribb0ns may be composed of some material such as steel, and are cal culated to serve a purpose to be presently described.

The bottom of the vacuum chamber 7has a long, narrow slit 15 fashioned therein, and a duct 16, which is correspondingly long and narrow in cross section, has one end secured (by screws or bolts) to the under side of the chamber 7, so as to register with the slit 15, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

This duct may be composed of cast iron or other suitable material, and made in several sections, as shown in Fig. 5, each section being provided with flanges 17 for the purpose of attachment to the adjacent section.

The duct 16 projects downwardly, in a slanting direction, from the chamber 7 through the superstructure 3, and its lower end, which is open, enters the impregnating liquid tank 2 and extends well down toward the bottom of the latter; so that when the tank 2 is as much as half filled with the impregnating liquid, which is denoted by 18, the open end of the duct 16 will be covered by the said liquid and hence sealed against the ingress of air.

The threading ribbons or bands 14, hereinabove mentioned, are passed from the roll 13 downwardly through the duct 16, around a fixed roll 19, mounted in the tank 2, below upwardly to a fixed roll 20, which is secured at the front of the superstructure 3, to which roll 20 one end of each of the said ribbons is permanently fixed. Thus by rotatinp the roll 20, the ribbons 14 may be caused to pass downwardly through the duct 16, and by rotating the roll 13, the said ribbons may be caused to retrace their course. It will be observed that the rolls l3 and 20 have squared spindles 21, 22, (see Fig. 1) designed for the application of a suitable hand crank for the purpose of manually rotating the same.

A set of drying rolls 23 (in the present instance five in number) are mounted adjacent the front of the apparatus, as diagrammatically represented in Fig. 5. The takeup roll 24- is also mounted at the front of the apparatus below the drying rolls 23, and a pair of guide rolls 25 are interposed between the drying rolls and the takeup roll. The take-up roll is provided with an apron 26, one end of which is fixed to the said roll, While the free end is designed to be threaded through the guide rolls and drying rolls and extend down toward the tank 2, to the point 27, all as represented in Fig. This apron 26 may be composed of any suitable textile material, such as canvas; and it will be understood that a series of take-up rolls 24 may be employed, each having its apron 26,

for successive use as successive batches or lots of fabric are submitted to the operation of the apparatus.

In order to provide a tensi n against the too free unwinding of the fayf'ic 11, the roll 10 has a pulley 28 over whicl a rope or cord 29 is designed to pass. Onef end of the rope 29 is secured to the bottom of the vacuum chamber 7, as denoted at 30, while the other end supports a weight 31. By varying the size of the weight 31, the tension on the roll 10 may be varied in an obvious manner.

Suitable guide rolls 32 are fixed in the vacuum chamber 7 below the rolls l0 and 13, for the'purpose of directing the fabric 11 and the ribbons 14 to the slit 15 and duct 16. The impregnating liquid tank 2 has an agitator 33 mounted therein, near the bottom,

which agitator takes the form of a rod havmg its halves provided with oppositely pitched spiral ribs ,or threads, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. One end of the agitator 33 protrudes through the side of the tank 2 and is squared, as shown at 34, for the application of a crank handle or other suitable means for imparting rotative movement thereto. A suitable draw-off cock, which is shown in the present instance as taking the form of a molasses gate, 35, is fitted at the bottom of the tank 2, for the purpose of drainingthe same when desired.

An exhaust pipe36 is coupled at one end of the vacuum chamber 7, and any suitable means may be employed for the purpose of creating a partial or complete vacuum there in. We find a vacuum of substantially six pounds to be satisfactory in operating upon duck or canvas commonly used in the manufacture of automobile tires. The vacuum chamber has a'removable top or cover 37 which may be temporarily secured in position by a series of bolts and nuts 38, and hoisting means 39 is provided for handling the same. Many suitable arrangements for manipulating the hoisting means are well within the knowledge of any mechanic skilled in the art and hence it is not deemed necessary to show the same.

We also provide mean for handling the rolls of fabric to be placed in the vacuum chamber, which means is illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 4t, and takes the form of a double hook 40 which is suitably suspended from a traveling carriage 41 mounted upon a track 42. secured in any convenient manner above the apparatus. It will be understood that the ends of the hook 40 engage the trunnions 9 of the fabric roll 10 for the purpose of swinging it into and out of the chamber 7. In this operation the tension mechanism 29, 31, may be disconnected from the fabric roll in an obvious manner.

In operation, a roll of fabric 10, 11 may be placed in the vacuum chamber and the free end thereof secured to a slat 43 which hence the fabricll, down through the duct created in the chamber 7.

'The operator will then cause a suitable degree of vacuum to be engendered in the chamber 7, and after this has taken place, the

roll '20 may be slowly rotated by hand. This rotation will draw the ribbons 14, and

16, and into the impregnating liquid 18 in the tank 2. v The fabric will then be drawn around the roll 19 and up out of the liquid untilits end is adjacent the roll 20. At this juncture the end of the fabric 11 will be disconnected from the slat 43 and roughly sewed or otherwise attached to the end of the apron 26, as shown at 27. v

After this threading operation, power may be applied, in any convenient manner, to the drying rolls 23 and the take up roll 24, for rotating the same and thereby drawing the fabric 11 through the path indicated by the apron 26, and winding the same up on the roll 24. It will 'be observed that the drying rolls 23, which are appropriately drying and take-up rolls is quite conven-' tional and well understood in the art; therefore, we do not consider it necessary to show the mechanical arrangement of the same any more completely than has been indicated in Fi 5.

This rotation of the rolls 23, 24, will, as will be clearly understood, draw the fabric 11 from the roll 10, down through the duct 16 and through the impregnating liquid 18, until the supply of fabric has been exhausted. During this operation, the fabric will be first submitted to the action of the vacuum in the chamber 7 for the purpose of drawing the air out of the same, and will then be promptly immersed in the impregnating liquid, without the slightest exposure to the atmosphere. I Hence, the fabric wlll, at the time it enters the impregnating liquid, be in the most favorable condition for absorbing the latter. \Ve have shown the liquid as rising part way up into the duct 16 (see Fig. 5), and it will be understood that the height which the liquid attains 1n the duct will be regulated by the degree of vacuum The vacuum should never be so intense as to draw the liquid u into the chamber 7 and the power of the vacuum in this connection may be estimated in advance by the application of well understood laws of physics. After one roll of fabric has treated, the operation may be repeated and, to this end, the roll 13 is rotated by hand so as to withdraw the ribbons 14 from the roll 20, until the slat 43 is again in the chamber 7 adjacent the guide rolls 32. Similarly, another take-up roll -24-may be placed in position and its apron 26 threaded through the guide rolls 25 and drying rolls 23. In this condition the apparatus is ready for the insertion of another rollof fabric to be treated and for operation upon the same. At necessary intervals the agitator 33 may be rotated for stirring up and rendering uniform the impregnating liquid.

It will be noted that the duct 16 projects downwardly from the chamber 7 vto the tank 2, at an angle, as distinguished from vertically. This we find to be desirable, since it enables us to lead the impregnated fabric away from the duct and liquid tank in a strictly vertical direction, so that any flow of the liquid which may take place onthe fabric as it is being led away, will be equal on both sides thereof, and there will be no tendency to drip away from the fabric.

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted tom the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope, of our invention, and hence we do not intend to be limited to the details herein shown and described except as they may be specifically included in the claims.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising an air-tight chamber, an impregnating tank located below the chamber, a duct having one end in air-tight communication with the chamber and the other end opening into the tank, said duct extending from the chamber downwardly to the tank at an angle to the vertical, means for supporting the fabric to be treated in the chamber, means for leading the fabric from the chamber through the duct and tank, means for leading the fabric away from the tank in a substantially vertical direction, and means for drying the fabric after it has been impregnated. c

2. Apparatus of the character described comprising an air-tight chamber, an impregnating tank located below the chamber,

means for agitating the liquid in the tank,

chamber through the duct and tank, means i' been thus for leading the fabric away from the tank in a substantially vertical direction, and means for drying the fabric after it has been impregnated.

3'. Apparatus of the character described comprising, a frame-work, a chamber located at the top of the frame-Work, and provided with an elongated slit in its bottom, an impregnating tank located at the lower part of the frame-work, a narrow flat duct having one end in air-tight communication with the slit in the chamber, said duct being straight and extending from the chamber downwardly to the tank at an angle to the away from the tank in a vertical, means for supporting the fabric to be treated in the chamber, means for leading the fabric from the chamber through the duct and tank, means for leading the fabric substantially vertical direction, and means for drying the fabric after it has been impregnated.

4. Apparatus of the character described comprising, a frame-work, a chamber located at the top of the frame-work, and provided with an elongated slit in its bottom, an impregnating tank located at the lower part of the frame-work, a narrow flat duct having one end in air-tight communication with the slit in the chamber, said duct being straight and extending from the chamber downwardlv to the tank at an angle to the vertical, means for supporting the fabric to be treated in the chamber, a rollin the chamber, a second roll carried by the fran' e-work above the tank, and a threading ribbon attached to the said rolls and assing through the chamber, duct, and tan whereby the fabric may be led from the chamber throu 'h the duct and tank, means for leading the fabric away from the tank in a substantially vertical direction, and means for drying the fabric after it has been impregnated.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our invention, we have signed our names this 18th day of May 1917.

JOHN E. THROPP. PETER D. THROPP 

